


The Hills

by BurningBroadripple



Series: Yuri On Ice - College AU [1]
Category: Yuri!!! on Ice (Anime)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, Awkward Flirting, Getting to Know Each Other, M/M, Making Out, Not Actually Unrequited Love, Prequel, Underage Drinking, YOI AU Week, more like mutual decision to keep it platonic, that's it - that's the entire fic, then realizing you're getting more of a friend vibe
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-11-08
Updated: 2017-11-08
Packaged: 2019-01-31 00:12:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,745
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12664308
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/BurningBroadripple/pseuds/BurningBroadripple
Summary: Prequel to In For the Kill - the story of how Yuri and Yuuri met and that one time they sort of hooked up.Can be read as a standalone Yu/Yuu college AU.





	The Hills

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this on little sleep - please let me know if there are errors/typos.

“Plizenski?” The middle aged professor looks out over the class of students - mostly freshman, with a few upper classmen who put it off thrown in the mix. It’s only the second week of the semester, and he still doesn’t know most of their names, making handing out partnership assignments a daunting task. Most of the students were understanding enough and came to get their partners and topics without much fuss, but unfortunately for him, it seems like this student is going to be difficult.

“Yuri Plizenski?” He tries again, a little louder this time, hopes the kid isn’t already skipping class this early in the year.

“It's Plis-et-sky.” The voice cuts through the class like a hot knife, deep and hardened with a real ‘fuck you’ edge. It’s a voice he’d expect from an older student, maybe some jaded fourth year that needs this to be done. He turns and looks around to find its owner, but the only male in that direction is a small young blonde man in the back corner that’s texting on his phone. When he makes no move to get up and come to the front, the professor decides to move on to announcing his partner, hoping he’ll have better luck with the next one.

“Uh, right. You will be partnered with Yuuri Katsuki!” Another student stands and walks silently to the front without a fuss. This one, he thinks, must be the good Yuuri. “Ah yes, thank you for coming up Mr. Katsuki. What are the odds of two Yuris in one class?” 

“Pretty fucking good in Russia.” Yuri doesn’t even bother to lift his eyes from the phone screen in front of him, choosing instead to keep scrolling through his friends posts and counting down the minutes until he can leave this hell hole and head to a class that actually matters. 

“Yes well I append my previous statement Mr. Plis-et-sky, to include ‘in California’.” And now it’s 100% confirmed, Russian Yuri is definitely the bad Yuri.

"Anyway, your topic is Mesopotamia and the Fertile Crescent. The cradle of humanity! Have fun.” He hands the packet to the good Yuuri and gives him an apologetic smile before turning his attention to the next group.

Yuri just rolls his eyes and goes back to his social media accounts. Like Hell he’s going to give this dude any sign he’s actually interested in the topic.  He’s interupted a few seconds later by a quiet clearing of the throat. When he looks up, the other Yuuri is standing beside his desk, a sheepish smile on his face.

“Hey Yuri, just wanted to introduce myself, I'm -”

“Yuri, I know. We have the same name, remember? That's the only reason professor dumbass paired us.” Really, what is this, first grade? Having the same first name is a really bad basis for friendships or partnerships. As far as Yuri is concerned, he’s one of a kind and there doesn’t need to be another one.

“Right. Well I'm a chem major, third year. I'm pretty busy with my senior level courses, but I thought we could try to schedule a time to meet.” Yuuri shuffles back and forth awkwardly, looking everywhere but at the blonde in front of him.

Yuri scoffs - of course he’d get paired with an upper classman that expects him to do all the work. “What the hell man, this is GE Ancient World History, how have you not taken it yet?” 

“I actually did take it once. Panicked in the final and bombed it. Had a solid A going in too, so I still got a C- overall, but that's not good enough for grad school apps, so I'm retaking it.” He lets one hand rub at the back of his neck, trying to relieve the tension forming in it.

Yuri does feel a little bit bad now, especially since the dude seems like a hard worker. Only he’s never been great at complimenting people, so instead of telling him that, he says, “Great, you've somehow managed to be a huge nerd and a huge loser. You better not mess this project up, I can't afford to retake classes.”

There’s a gleam in Yuuri’s eye, like the ultimatum has sparked an interest. For the first time he stands tall and looks Yuri straight in the eyes. “Right. Well like I said, let's find a time to meet then.”

Yuri isn’t sure how someone can go from ‘awkward mousy loser’ to ‘fierce and confident’ that quickly, but this guy clearly has more to him than meets the eye, and Yuri’s intrigued to find out more. “My Thursday evenings and Friday mornings are free. Sundays work if we absolutely have to.” 

“Actually Thursday evening works great. 7pm in the library?” 

“Sure, guess I might as well go there at some point.” Yuuri nods in acknowledgement before heading back to his seat. Maybe there’s room for another Yuri afterall.

xXxXxXx

It’s 7:15 when Yuri finally finds his way to the fifth floor of the library where Katsuki had asked to meet. Why he had to come all the way up here is a mystery to him, but the other was insistent. When he gets to the back corner, he finds Yuuri set up at a large work table, a pile of books on Mesopotamia already stacked to his side. It’s surrounded on all sides by bookshelves, with windows on two sides and no other work spaces around. All in all, it’s a pretty great spot, and now he understands why the first floor cafe wouldn’t do. 

“Wow dude, this is a pretty sweet setup you’ve got here.” Yuri drops his stuff down and flops into a chair on the opposite side of the workspace.

“Yeah well I don't like working around others.” Yuuri just shrugs and goes back to the chapter he was reading when the other showed up.

“Well that's a pretty dumb thing to tell your partner you barely know.” Yuri isn’t even trying to be a dick, he’s just a sarcastic asshole, but the comment seems to catch Yuuri off guard and he quickly puts the book down and starts fumbling through his bag.

“Here, I brought cookies. A peace offering.” He hands the tupperware over to Yuri and waits patiently for him to open it. Yuri’s heard about people giving out cookies with roofies in them, but he’s pretty sure this guy isn’t cool enough to get the drugs even if he wanted to.

“Alright, thanks man. Sorry for uh, being myself I guess? Anyway let’s get started.” The two settled into a comfortable working pattern then, dividing up the work to suit their respective strengths and interests, Yuuri sorting through library material while Yuri stuck to internet research. The evening went by quickly, and before they knew it the librarian had come around and told them they had to leave.

Yuuri had moved off campus after his second year, but Yuri was still slumming it in the dorms, so Yuuri offered to walk him back on his way home. They didn’t talk about much that night, just the usual where are you from, what are you studying, what are your hobbies. It would have been a perfectly mundane conversation if they hadn’t run into one of Yuuri’s fuck buddies on the way back, but that’s just how it goes sometimes.

The dark haired man was jogging by, headphones in, tight black joggers leaving nothing to the imagination, a grey hoodie framing his chiseled face. Yuri noticed him immediately, because he definitely had a thing for hot athletic guys and this dude was checking all his boxes. When he was still a few feet away, Yuri flipped his hair and sent the guy his best bedroom eyes, hoping his gaydar hadn’t been off. He must have been on target, because the man slowed down, gave him a smile, even checked him out. Only once he got closer, the flirting suddenly stopped when the man looked at Yuuri and came to a crashing halt.

“Oh hey Yuuri. Uh, hi. Haven’t seen you around in a while.” And suddenly the sexy jogging dude vanished and was replaced by this stuttering fumbling mess just by being in Yuuri’s presence.

“Oh hi Takeshi. Yeah I’ve been pretty busy with school stuff.” Yuuri was perfectly polite, but there was nothing genuine about it. Anyone could tell he was dying for the conversation to be done and over with.

Anyone except Takeshi, apparently.

“Well maybe we could hang out again some time. I had a really good time last time you know. I texted you after, like a lot. But I never heard back.” 

“Yeah, sorry about that! I forget to check it sometimes.” Yuri can see right through Yuuri’s facade, can tell he’s pulling out every trick he knows to blow this guy off in the nicest way. Only he’s still not taking the hint, and Yuri really doesn’t want to spend all night standing out side watching them awkwardly dance around each other, so he does the first thing he can think of and reaches out to take Yuuri’s hand in his.

The action has the intended effect immediately, and Takeshi quickly steps back away from the pair. “Right, well I won’t keep you and your uh, friend. Bye Yuuri.” He jogs off as quickly as he came, leaving Yuri staring at his hand in Yuuri’s and wondering why it feels so nice.

It’s a short lived thought though, because as soon as he rounds the corner Yuuri pulls his hand away before blurting out an apology. “Oh my god, I am so sorry about that. He was just supposed to be a one night thing, but he wouldn’t stop blowing up my phone after. I almost changed my number.”

“So you’re gay?” Yuri really wishes he wouldn’t have asked like that, because it definitely sounded like an accusation.

"Oh. Well I guess I’m bi? I don’t really feel a need to define it. Is that a problem?” And now there’s a redness to his cheeks and Yuuri’s taken a step backwards to put some distance between them and that is the opposite of what Yuri wants right now.

“No way man, I’m straight as a rainbow.” He does his best vogue hand gesture to accentuate the point because he has to convince Yuuri that he isn’t a threat, has to do something to keep him from running off. 

At first Yuuri doesn’t move, doesn’t say anything - but it only lasts a moment before he’s doubled over laughing, tears pricking at the corners of his eyes. “I thought so, but I didn’t want to presume.”

“You knew I was gay? What the hell, people never think that. I usually have to make out with some dude just to prove it to them. Or do some over the top gay thing.” And now Yuri’s the one turning scarlet because yeah, that was a bit much.

“Like voguing to prove you're gay?”

“Yeah, like that.”

“Yeah well I guess it takes one to know one.” And then Yuuri fucking  _ winks _ at him, and it is the hottest thing he’s ever seen, and it came from Katsuki.

Suddenly everything comes into focus - the quick changes in his demeanor, the subtle hints. This guy is a seductress, a femme fatale, a courteson. He must fight men off like flies when he lets his raw sexual energy out, when he stops putting on the awkward loser act and lets himself be real.

Yuri’s pretty sure he wants there to be two Yuris after all, preferably if it involves getting to know him on a more intimate level.

xXxXxXx

The next few weeks move by quickly, and Yuri finds himself looking forward to their Thursday night meetings all week. It isn’t just that he has a crush on Yuuri, although he definitely does even if he won’t admit it, but the guy is hard working and dedicated too and despite being in college and surrounded by other people who are supposedly there to prepare themselves for their careers, most of his floor mates just seem to be preparing themselves to get wasted.

It doesn’t take long for them to ask more personal questions - what’s your family like, what kind of guy are you into, what do you want to do with your life - and they find themselves staying until closing every Thursday night talking, even long after they’ve finished their work for the night.

When it finally comes time to turn the project in, Yuri walks to the front of the room and places their report directly in front of the professor. He’s suspicious at first, expecting Yuri to call him a dumbass or say some other inappropriate thing, but instead he just nods his head and walks away without saying a word. He decides that putting good Yuuri and bad Yuri in a group was the best thing he did all semester.

When Yuri gets back to his desk to gather his things, he finds Yuuri standing next to it waiting for him.

“So partner, you wanna come over and celebrate with me?” He’s got that gleam in his eyes and that crooked smile on his face that breaks down all of Yuri’s walls and makes his heart beat out of his chest.

“What are we celebrating?” He tries to play it cool, tries to keep his voice from giving away just how much he would like to do that. 

“The completion of an assignment, and the start of a beautiful friendship.” He throws his arm around the shorter man and leads them out of the classroom.

“That’s pretty gay bro.” Only now there’s no malice in his voice, only a soft fondness reserved solely for the man in front of him. They head back to Yuuri’s place in silence. 

Yuuri never takes his arm down from around his shoulders.

Yuri internally yells the entire walk home.

Yuuri’s place is simple - a bedroom in a house with a few other chem students. He mentions that he’d like to get his own place next year, but Yuri doesn’t see the problem - anything is better than the dorms. Yuuri raids the fridge for booze while Yuri orders them a pizza. If they’re going to get wasted, they might as well do it with greasy junk food - go big or go home.

Three hours, a fifth of vodka that Yuri-I’m-Russian-Plisetsky insisted they drink without chasers, and one pizza later, the two are happily buzzed lying in a heap on Yuuri’s bed. There’s music playing from his speakers even though Yuri doesn't remember him putting any on. He let’s himself get lost in it, loves the way the melody twists and turns, the piercing female singer’s voice contrasting with the gritty bass. He isn’t sure if it’s the alcohol coursing through him or the music floating above them or the weight of Yuuri’s body beside his, but suddenly he’s overcome with the desire to do something, and when he turns his head to find Yuuri smiling back at him, he realizes just what that something is.

He rolls to his side, lets his top arm drape gently over Yuuri’s side, rubbing the palm of his hand up and down the other man’s arms, tentatively. Yuuri just smiles and leans into the touch, let’s his head fall forwards until his forehead is resting against Yuri’s chest. The action makes Yuri feel bolder, so he trails his hand upwards, over his shoulder, until it’s resting on the side of his face. He scratches the side of his head with his fingernails, raking them through Yuuri’s coarse dark hair. There’s something so erotic watching his pale fingers weave through the inky strands, and suddenly he can’t resist the urge to ball his fingers in it and pull Yuuri closer until they’re nose to nose, barely any space between them.

Yuri feels like he should say something, anything, so he looks into Yuuri’s eyes and says “Hey” because his brain feels fuzzy and his heart is racing and that’s as eloquent as he can be right now.

“Hey.” Yuuri doesn’t pull away, but he doesn't move forward either. They both know they’re on the edge of something here, that they’re standing on the cliff together, each waiting to see who will jump first.

“Fuck it.” Yuri closes the distance, let’s his lips find the ones he’s been watching for weeks, revels in how warm and soft they feel against his chapped ones. Yuuri is everything he isn’t - soft where he’s hard, warm where he’s cold. And if that wasn’t enough, if he wasn’t sexy and kind he’s also smart and driven and a genuinely cool dude. Yuri never even stood a fucking chance not to fall for him.

He moves to deepen the kiss, licks at Yuuri’s mouth seeking entrance. He expects Yuuri to lie back and let him take control - he doesn’t expect him to roll them both over so he’s above him, and he definitely doesn’t expect him to bite his lip in response. He lets out a surprised gasp, and Yuuri takes the opportunity to let his tongue dip in to meet his. It’s a slow, deep kiss, heavy and seductive like the music still playing in the background. He isn’t sure how long they go on like that for, but he knows as soon as Yuuri moves to pull away that it isn’t nearly long enough.

He tries to sit up, tries to chase the retreating mouth with his own because he really isn’t ready for it to be over yet, but Yuuri has a look on his face that tells him their make out session is done.

He lets out a deep sigh before moving to sit on the side of his bed, his back turned to Yuri. It isn’t that he didn’t enjoy that, because he definitely did, and he’s been thinking about this just as long as he’s sure Yuri has, but there’s something else here between them, something special, and for once he doesn’t want to throw that away for a quick fuck.

“Look Yuri, I’m going to be straight with you. You’re sexy and that was amazing, but I think we should end this where it’s at.” He doesn’t turn around, too afraid of what the younger man will say to him. It’s easier this way if he leaves, Yuuri won’t have to see the hurt look on his face.

“Wow, was it that bad that you’re seriously telling me you don’t want to see me any more?” Despite trying desperately to sound tough, the tremble in his voice is unmistakable, the anger a bad cover up for sadness.

“What? No! I meant we should end the hooking up. Look, I really care about you as a friend and honestly, I haven’t related to someone as well as I have to you in a long time. So I think I’d like for us to try and move forward while keeping things platonic. Or uh, well, mostly platonic at least.” And he can’t help the small fond smile that creeps up because he really is trying to do the right thing here, but he knows they’ll probably fall back into each other like this sometimes when they’re looking for the comfort and intimacy only mouths and lips and hot skin can offer.

“I don’t know man, I need to think about it. I’ve wanted this for so long now. I need some time to get over that first.” Yuri’s upset, but there’s also a part of him that can’t help but agree with Yuuri, that thinks maybe being each other’s rock is more important than getting his dick sucked.

“Alright well you can crash here if you want, no pressure.”

“Nah man, I’m gonna head home. I’ll text you later.” Yuri stands and walks out of the room. He wants to leave without looking back, but he finds himself stuck in the doorway. He should be pissed, he should give himself time, only as much as he’s hurt, he’s even more terrified that if he walks away he’ll never find his way back. He doesn’t trust easily, doesn’t let people in. But Yuuri was different and now that he’s broken down his walls, it’s hard to build them up and barricade him out again.

Eventually he gives in and walks back to Yuuri, before dropping his stuff on the floor and flopping down beside him. He doesn't say anything else, it all feels too delicate. The silent agreement is enough for both of them, and they fall asleep curled up beside each other.

It’s late the next morning when Yuri wakes up, and the space beside him is empty. He doesn’t have to look far to find Yuuri sitting as his computer, playing some RPG.

"Good morning handsome. Sleep well?” He’s way too perky in the mornings, and Yuri wants to throw the pillow in his face, but he also wants to use it to block the sun, and the pragmatist in him wins out.

“Hey, I know it may be too soon, but I'm going to a party with some friends tonight. We might leave part way through and drive up for this pop up if it happens. I think you'd fit right in if you wanna join us?” it’s an olive branch, an invitation into the fold.

“You don't have to try and be my best friend just because we almost fucked you know.” And shit, that isn’t what Yuri meant to say, but it’s too early and he’s hungover and despite feeling genuine he can’t help but wonder if Yuuri just said all that to avoid sleeping with him.

“Yuri, that's not it. I meant everything I said. For some crazy reason I actually really enjoy your company and friendship. It might get crazy though so I understand if you can't hang.” There it is, the challenge, the rivalry that sparked their friendship in the first place. 

“Blow me! If you're going then it can't be that intense.” He tries to play it tough, really tries, but there’s no malice to his insult.

“So are you in, or are you out?” Yuuri walks over and holds a hand out, waiting for him to make the next move, to accept or rebuff him.

Yuri never really stood a chance. He reaches out and takes Yuuri’s hand in his own.

“We’re friends right? There's only one answer.”

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for the ending Kubo Sensei.
> 
> Anyway feedback is always loved and appreciated!
> 
> *The song I imagine playing in the background is Echo's cover of "The Hills." Youtube that shit - it's epic.


End file.
